Rolling into Retirement: The RV Lifestyle After Work

If the word Retirement caught your eye in this article, you have probably already determined how much you need to retire, created a budget and savings plan, and have been investing and growing your retirement cash.  But what if you are thinking about the RV lifestyle?  How does that factor into your retirement plans?

My spouse and I are not retired…yet.  Five years ago, we went remote for work and escaped to a full-time RV lifestyle.  If you plan to enjoy the RV lifestyle after work, RVing now is the perfect solution for ‘rolling into retirement’.  Here is how we are doing it.

Family Size

When you start RVing, it might not just be you or a spouse.  Will you be bringing pets?  Will the grandkids want to come and hang out or go on trips with you?  Will you have a friend join you on your RV adventures?  Think carefully about how you will use your RV and who might be traveling with you or visiting for short stays before you purchase your RV.  There are only two of us in our RV.  But when we travel, the grandkids like to spend the night.  And we have family and friends who visit us too.  So our RV has extra sleeping space.

Housing Options

How will you RV?  Do you want to do it full-time?  Will you only be a snowbird and RV a few months out of the year?  Will you only be a weekend warrior, just going out on the weekends and not far from home?  These questions will help you determine what type of RV you will need.  It will also help you decide if you will maintain a brick-and-mortar home.  Or, maybe you will sell it all and take to the road.  We went full-time and decided to sell our stationary home and everything in it.  We haven’t regretted it.

Retirement Date

Setting a date for your retirement will assist you in planning your RV departure.  You can create a retirement calendar for the things to do so you are ready.  Decide how to handle your mail, book your RV stays, pack your RV, (sell your house?), have access to medical care and banking…and more.  Everything you need now, you will probably need in retirement.  If you are on the move in an RV, you need to know how to access resources on the road.  We had a three-month exit strategy to move from our house to our RV home.  Here are some things you will want to consider:

·         How will you receive mail?

·         Do you need a domicile location if you are full-time?

·         Where will you receive medical care or access medication refills?

·         Will you have a pet that needs veterinarian care?

·         Where will you get supplies or services?

·         How can you access your banking needs?

RV Lifestyle Budgeting

Now is the perfect time to consider an RV lifestyle.  During the planning process, you have time to update or upgrade your retirement goals.  You can incorporate your RV adventure and expenses into your plan.  You can review budgets and expenses so you can spend according to your RV plans.  When preparing your RV lifestyle budget you will need to know several factors. 

·         Learn how much it costs to maintain an RV. 

·         Will you need to store it sometimes? 

·         Will you stay a month in a location or just a weekend?  (Staying longer results in more savings).

·         What is the upkeep of an RV? 

We did months of research before deciding what RV would meet our budget and future RVing goals.  Because we started RVing before retirement, we have not touched our retirement budget.  Currently our work on the road funds our travels.  We already ‘feel’ retired even though we work full-time!  But, we have a tested working budget for retirement.

RV Vacations

If you plan to RV for months or even full-time for your retirement, it is not a vacation.  If you spend this time like you are on vacation, your spending will eat away at your retirement.  You might not dine out all the time or sightsee every day.  You may need to plan a vacation into your RV lifestyle.  There may be a set week you enjoy a location like a traveler or a tourist.  The rest of the time you will enjoy ‘living’ in a new location. 

If you don’t map out your budget within your retirement goals, you can go off-budget into overspending.  Plan your adventures so you can enjoy retirement but also live your RV lifestyle.  They may be the same thing if you only vacation for short periods or weekends in your RV.  One of the first things we learned is, that you are not on permanent vacation so plan accordingly.

The great thing about RVing is, you don’t have to wait until you retire.  You can ‘practice’ on weekends or longer stays and become comfortable with it.  Also, RVing around the country lets you visit areas you might want to retire to permanently without committing upfront.  You can also invest in an RV while you have regular income without touching retirement. 

Retirement is just around the corner for us.  When it comes, we have very few changes to handle.  We are already RVing full-time, we know the routines and we can anticipate expenses.  Retirement, for us, will be an easy transition.  Through our RC lifestyle of firsthand learning and exploration, we have carefully pre-built our RV retirement.  But we are enjoying it now.